Mother's Day

by EHfan

Rachel and Jacob travel to Florida to break the news of their marriage and impending parenthood to Rachel's father. But once again, the visit is interrupted by a case.

1. Chapter 1

A/N: This story is set almost a year after "Father's Day" and between the first and second chapters of "Babies and Blackmailers." I want to thank my friend Lattelady who suggested I write a few stories that feature a pregnant Rachel.

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"This has to be the worst idea you've ever had," Rachel grumbled as she carefully steered the SUV along the narrow causeway to Sanibel Island.

"What?" Jacob inquired, slightly annoyed by her tone. "Sweetheart, we agreed this was the best way, we needed to break the news to your father in person."

Rachel winced inwardly as she glanced in the rear view mirror at their passenger. She still wasn't completely used to Jacob calling her that in public. She sighed, there were a lot of things she was going to have to get used to. "I know, I know, we really do owe him the courtesy of telling him in person, but still…"

"Ma'am, are you sure you need me to come along?" Special Agent Terrance Mason piped up from the back seat. "I mean, since this is a personal visit? Couldn't I have waited for you two in Fort Myers?" 'Or better yet, back in D.C.?'

Rachel wanted to turn and glare at the young man but the heavy traffic prevented it. She contented herself with using the iciest tone she could manage. "Just what part of being a member of the EPD, of being a bodyguard, don't you understand? I would have expected Detail Chief McGruder to have explained your duties to you. You are to stay with your protectee 24/7 damned near 365."

"Besides," Jacob said with a hint of laughter in his voice, "if Rachel is right about her dad, I might need a bodyguard."

Rachel was able to shoot a glare at Jacob.

He smiled at her in return. "Come on Rachel, it's almost Mother's Day, surely he'll want to celebrate the fact you're going to be a mother with you."

When Rachel merely snorted at this, Jacob shook his head, sighed, and turned to look out the window.

Terrance sat back with a puzzled expression. He was the youngest of five siblings, three older sisters and a brother. All of them were married and had kids. In his family, in his experience, marriages and babies were things to celebrate. He honestly couldn't see what SAC Young, 'no, this is a personal visit, so it's Mrs. Hood' was so worried about. Sure, her dad might be pissed off they had kept their marriage a secret for so long, but geez, how mad could he be? Remembering how his dad had quizzed his sister's various boyfriends he didn't think SAC, no, Mrs. Hood's dad had anything to complain about. Dr. Hood was a great guy, had a good job, and was crazy in love with his wife.

Terrance blushed faintly as he recalled just how crazy in love with his wife Dr. Hood was. He had been on the detail for a week when they were called out of town. They were only gone three days; when they got back to D.C. Dr. Hood insisted they head straight to SAC Young's office before reporting in to the Director. Dr. Hood had blown by SAC Young's admin and closed the office door firmly. He had only been in there for five minutes before Terrance's cell phone began buzzing. It was the Director and he wanted to know where the hell his Special Science Advisor was. Terrance had knocked before opening the door but he was still confronted by the sight of SAC Young, blouse untucked, hair disarranged, being kissed passionately by Dr. Hood. Terrance still blanched at the thought of what he might have interrupted if the Director had called ten minutes later.

A short time later they pulled up in front of a Spanish-style bungalow. Terrance blew out his breath faintly. This was the only part of his job he disliked. It was one thing to know you had to shadow someone 24/7 and as Mrs. Hood pointed out damn near 365. It was another to have to stand discreetly in the background as someone else's family drama played out. He sent up a quick prayer that Mrs. Hood was mistaken and that her father would welcome his new son-in-law and prospective grandchild with pleasure.

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Jonathan Young's eyes narrowed slightly as he took in the young agent who exited the rear of the SUV. He wondered what happened to Lee. Since her visit the previous year, he and Rachel had reached a bit of a …détente in their relationship. While she was calling a bit more frequently this was her first visit in a year.

"Rachel, Dr. Hood," he nodded to them. "Good to see you." He raised an eyebrow, "Just happen to be in the area?"

He had been surprised when Rachel called the day before to see if he would be available for a quick visit. She hadn't said much during the call, only that she had some news. He wondered if it meant she had accepted a promotion, been transferred from the EPD, maybe back to Counter-Terrorism. He got the impression this was going to be a personal visit. When the SUV had pulled up and he saw the others, he felt a flicker of disappointment. Surely her news wasn't that she had been given a new trainee.

Rachel kissed her father on the cheek. "Ah, no, I wanted to see you." She motioned to Terrance. "Umm…this is Special Agent Terrance Mason."

Nodding at the introduction, Young motioned for them to come in. Soon they were seated in the living room, Young looking at his daughter quizzically, wondering at her obvious discomfort. After the initial pleasantries, an awkward silence descended.

"So, Rachel, you said you had some news for me?" he father asked lightly.

"Umm …. yes…" Rachel looked at Jacob, eyes wide. He smiled at her encouragingly. Rachel turned back to her father. "It's just … umm … I'm pregnant," she blurted out.

For a split second Jonathan Young starred at his daughter, his mouth hanging open. Then he exploded. "You're pregnant?" He jerked his head in Jacob's direction, "I can guess who's to blame for this. Goddamnit, how could you be so stupid?" He gestured toward Terrance, "and him, he's not your new trainee, he's your replacement isn't he? You got yourself thrown out on your ass, like some stupid fucking incompetent. I can't believe it, you violated your oath, gave up everything you worked for …"

Jacob intervened, "Really, Mr. Young, I think…."

Young turned his fury onto Jacob. "You, you goddamned bastard. You son of a bitch. You stood here last year and promised me you wouldn't do anything to hurt my daughter. I guess you don't think her career being ruined is hurting her? Or is the privilege of carrying your bastard child supposed to make up for destroying her reputation, her life's work?"

Rachel who been sitting white-faced through her father's tirade stood abruptly, hands clenched at her side. "Fuck you. Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. How dare you talk to me, talk to Jacob like that? You're the bastard, not Jacob. I tell you I'm pregnant and you don't ask if I'm ok, if I'm happy, nothing. All you care about is your old FBI buddies finding out your daughter screwed the pooch and got herself tossed out of the Bureau. So fuck you. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go throw up and then we are leaving."

Rachel turned toward the hallway. Jacob stood and reached for her. Blinking back her tears, she shook her head. He watched her hurry to the bathroom. When she slammed the down behind her, he sighed and turned to Terrance.

"Terrance, I've got some cans of ginger ale in my duffle. Could you please go out and get me one?"

Nodding, Terrace left the room but not before shooting a look full of dislike at Young. As soon as he was safely out of the house, Jacob swung back to face Rachel's father, furious.

"Bastard!" he spat out. "Rachel told me you wouldn't take our news well but I never expected to hear the kind of venom you were spewing. What in the hell is wrong with you? This is your daughter, don't you care about her at all? He sniffed disdainfully, "You're acting like the world's falling apart. Damnit, she's not some scared sixteen year old who made a mistake. She's a grown woman here to tell you she's found someone to share her life and we're starting a family."

Young returned the glare. "Yeah? Well, from where I'm sitting she might as well be sixteen and knocked up. She's looking at a future as an unwed mother with no job, and thanks to you, limited prospects. Rachel had a good job, a real future at the Bureau before she met you. Now what? She's…."

Jacob interrupted him. "You really take the cake. Rachel's right, she tells you she's having a baby, that you're going to be a grandfather and all you care about is what this means to her work at the Bureau. You don't want to know if she's happy," Jacob shot a worried look at the still closed bathroom door, "or even if she's healthy."

"What, is something wrong? I mean…" he swallowed, took a deep breath. "When she said she was going to throw up, I thought, I mean," he looked toward the bathroom, "I thought she was being dramatic." He frowned at Jacob. "Is she ok, is everything all right?"

"She's been having these bouts of nausea, instead of morning sickness, she has afternoon sickness." Jacob frowned, "and she's not facing the future as an unwed mother. We…"

"What? You're gonna do the decent thing? Stand by her? Never occur to you that maybe it'd have been a good idea to have the wedding before the baptism? Or is that to old fashioned for you?"

Jacob looked at the man puzzled. "Baptism? What are you talking about? Why would we bother with that nonsense?"

"It's not nonsense." Rachel reentered the room, unnoticed by either man. "Why are you even talking to him? We need to leave. Now."

"Not just yet." Jacob took Rachel by the arm and led her back to the sofa. Still shaky from vomiting, she sat with evident relief, closing her eyes as she leaned back. Terrance returned with a can of ginger ale. He handed the can to Jacob who immediate cracked it open.

"Here, drink this, it will help settle your stomach."

Young hovered nearby a look of indecision on his face. "Ah, would you like a glass, some ice?"

Jacob shook his head. "No, actually warm ginger ale works best."

"I think there're some crackers in the car, would you like me to get them for you Mrs. Hood?" Terrance asked.

Young's eyebrows rose, "Mrs. Hood?' "So you've already gotten married?"

"No, thanks Terrance, I'm ok now." Rachel glared at her father. "We've been married, not that it's any of your business." Finishing the last of the ginger ale, she stood up, "We can leave now; I'm fine."

Jacob looked unhappy but before he could say anything doorbell rang. Terrance caught Young by the sleeve as the man headed toward the door. "I think it would be best if I got this sir."

With his hand hovering near his weapon, he carefully opened the door. "Felix?" He fell back surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey Terrance," said Felix. He entered the house followed hesitantly by another man. "Sorry to barge in on your family reunion Doc, but something's come up." He pointed to the man accompanying him. "This is Dr. Daniel Morris, from the CDC. He's been in Tampa looking into an outbreak and he called the Bureau to ask for your help."

"When I called they told me you were on personal leave," Dr. Morris broke in, "after they told me you were actually in the area, I thought, it was almost like answer to a prayer." He looked at Jacob earnestly, "I really need your help Dr. Hood."

Jacob and Rachel exchanged dismayed looks. After a second Rachel nodded and sank back on the sofa, a resigned look on her face.

"I'm happy to do what I can," Jacob said, "but," he shot a worried look at Rachel, "I can't promise to devote my entire attention to your problem."

Morris nodded, "I'm sure you've read, heard about the recent outbreaks of a retrovirus in various parts of the country? Well the one here has the earmarks of becoming a pandemic."

"A pandemic? Are you sure? From what I've heard, read, those outbreaks have been pretty limited." Jacob titled his head, "what makes you think this time it's the beginning of a pandemic?"

"This outbreak is different," Morris explained. "We have more victims than in the previous outbreaks. Plus the infections are growing more severe, more systemic. It's as if the virus is increasing in virulence as it replicates in new hosts."

Jacob shot a glance at Rachel, she gave a grimace and a shrug. She's be fine. Reassured, Jacob nodded, "I'll see what I can do. Terrance? Give the keys to the SUV to Rachel, she'll need it. We'll go with Dr. Morris and Felix."

He sat down on the sofa next to Rachel and cradled her face in his hands. "I'll call you," he bit down on his lip, "if I can," he admitted softly. Pulling her into a hug, he whispered in her ear. "Talk to him Rachel, you need to settle things with him." He kissed her briefly and stood to face her father.

"Don't let her leave until she's recovered from the nausea."

Young's eyes narrowed in dislike but before he could respond, Felix swept them all from the room. The wishful look on Rachel's face re-ignited his bitterness. "So was it worth it? He shook his head in disgust.

"Don't start with me again Daddy. I love Jacob so yes …."

"Don't bull-shit me Rachel, I saw the look on your face when that so-called genius husband of yours walked out on you. You looked like a dog being left behind by its owner."

"Jacob didn't walk out on me. He was called away, they needed his expertise."

"I just don't get it." her father continued as if she hadn't spoken. "You were ten years old when you decided you wanted to be an agent. Then you worked your ass off for years to get there. And now, just when you were starting to get somewhere, to make a name for yourself, you throw it all away? Damnit girl," Young glared at his daughter, "you had a future with the Bureau. Why the hell would you give that up? Is he that good in bed?"

Rachel gasped in anger. She held on to her temper with an effort, closing her eyes and attempting to count to ten to avoid saying something she knew she'd regret. At six, she gave it up as a lost cause. She opened her eyes and stared at her father deadpan.

"In relationships there's a fine line between distant and estranged; we've always managed to stay on the distant side. So you are going to apologize for that remark and then we are going to pretend you never said it, or else you will never see me," her hand rested on her stomach, "or your grandchild, ever again."

Jonathan Young flushed, he knew his remark was out of line. "I'm sorry," he muttered. "But damnit, Rachel," he burst out plaintively, "I don't understand, I mean, he's some impractical, airy-fairy, head in the clouds academic. Maybe you just think you love him because you've spent so much time together?"

Despite her anger, a wry smile appeared on Rachel's face. Her father's description mirrored her own early impressions of Jacob. And his fear that what she felt for Jacob was the result of propinquity was one she had dealt with herself.

"I tried to convince myself of that," she said. "Then, I almost died. It's amazingly easy to decide what's important, what's not important, when you feel your life blood leaking from your body." She looked her father in the eye, "I realized the most important thing to me was having Jacob Hood in my life, no matter what the cost. That loving him, being loved by him, was all that mattered to me."

He father had turned ashen. "What do you mean you almost died? You told me your injury wasn't that serious. As I recall, your exact words were 'it isn't anything much.'"

"I lied," she rolled her eyes. "Are you really surprised?"

Young opened his mouth to argue with his daughter but his own honesty compelled him to keep silent. He knew he had been reluctant to go to her bedside. He hadn't questioned her assessment of her injuries because it was convenient for him.

"So, what really happened?"

Rachel stared at her father with pursed lips, trying to decide how much of the debacle to share with him. She mentally shrugged, she might as well tell him everything; after all, while the episode had been hushed up as much as possible, it hadn't actually been classified. She sighed, "You better sit down."

Slowly, Rachel told her father the whole story, beginning with Sofia Lyons trying to take Ray Wynne's wife hostage. How Jacob, concerned about the woman, launched a discreet investigation into her claim that Ray Wynne had fathered and then kidnapped her child. Her being shot with the bolt of a hunting cross-bow and kidnapped by the desperate, drug-crazed woman. Realizing, as she felt herself growing weaker from blood loss, that her feelings for Jacob were real and her regret at never telling him that she loved him. How Wynne took over the manhunt and turned the Bureau against Jacob, saying he was responsible for her injury. And despite all this, how Jacob determined the truth; that Sofia did have a baby by Wynne, a baby Wynne did kidnap. How he located the child and tried to use it as a bargaining chip. How he got her to the hospital, saving her life.

"I was lucky," she concluded. "I'd lost a lot of blood, the bolt nicked a branch of my femoral artery. If Sofia had pulled the bolt from my leg sooner, I'd have bled out. Instead," she smiled crookedly, "that impractical, airy-fairy head in the clouds academic saved my life at the risk of his own."

Young sat silently, absorbing all that Rachel told him. He was shocked, he hadn't known how close he had come to losing his daughter permanently. While he was unhappy with the way her career ended, when all was said and done, he'd rather have a live daughter than a dead FBI agent. He came out of his reverie to discover Rachel staring at him uncertainly. He shook himself mentally, not sure if she'd believe him if he told her how much losing her would have hurt him. He grabbed at what was, to him, the most incredible part of her story.

"You're telling me he figured it all out 'cause Wynne's eyes looked funny in a picture his daughter posted online?"

Rachel grinned at him, "what can I say? It's what he does." Young shook his head, returning her grin. The brief moment of camaraderie faded as she stood, "I guess I should be going now."

"No, wait," Young took in Rachel's pallor, the way she held herself so stiffly. It was clear to him she was still suffering from the nausea and the after-effects of vomiting. "Ah, your, ah, husband made it clear that he expected me to keep you here until you were better." Young cleared his throat, "and, ah, I, ah, didn't react so well to your news. Why don't you stay? We can, uh, talk, maybe start over?" He was surprised to find he was holding his breath, waiting for her reply.

""That sounds good, but," Rachel smiled a bit at her father's crestfallen look at her but. "Could we postpone our talk for a bit? I really think I'd like to lie down and take a nap. I'm so tired lately."

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The sounds of an argument woke Rachel a few hours later. Blinking sleepily she came into the hallway to find her father arguing with the driver of a delivery truck. The truck bore the logo of a national office supply company.

"You can't bring that crap in here," protested Young, "I didn't order it."

"I know," the burly Hispanic driver retorted. "Like I told you, it says right here, this stuff was ordered and paid for by a…" he squinted at the receipt, "… Jason Good."

"Jacob Hood," Rachel corrected with a twitch of her lips.

The driver turned to her, grateful someone seemed to expect this delivery. "Yeah, ok, right, Jacob Hood," he smiled at Rachel, "so, lady, you wanna sign for this delivery?"

Taking the clipboard thrust at her, Rachel scribbled her initials where the man indicated. He and his assistant than proceeded to muscle a large white board and easel into the house.

"Where do ya want this?"

Over her father's objections, Rachel silently pointed to the living room. The two delivery men set up the white board and, on the way the door, handed Rachel a bag of office supplies. Rachel peeked inside; it contained markers and a dozen or so packs of post-it notes in a variety of colors.

"What's the hell is going on?" Young demanded.

"What's going on is my so-called genius husband plans to use your house as his base of operations."

At her father's look of astonishment, Rachel explained that this is how Jacob worked, they would commandeer the nearest lab or office as a workspace. If anyplace like that was unavailable, they would set up shop in one or the other's hotel room. Rachel rolled her eyes impatiently when her father expressed some discomfort about them working in each other's bedroom.

"We weren't in each other's bedrooms," she huffed, "they were anonymous hotel rooms, and anyway, our relationship was strictly professional."

Her father looked at her for a beat then his lips twitched. "Strictly professional, huh? Then how did you manage to get pregnant? Is he really that much of a genius?"

Rachel blushed, "we didn't mix business with pleasure." 'At least not often,' she thought ruefully. But it would be best not to get into that with her father.

Her father's eyebrow rose, "well, I'm glad you didn't forget everything I taught you."

Rachel drew herself up stiffly. "We worked really hard at being discreet, not only because we knew we were breaking the rules. We also wanted to show ... everyone that what Jacob and I felt for each other, what was between us, didn't have any affect on how I did my job." Her chin came up, "Over the last year I actually got two commendations."

"Fat lot of good it did you," Young mumbled. He cleared his throat, hurrying on at the thunderous look on Rachel's face over this remark. "So, uh, you've been married that long?" A sudden thought struck him, "you were already married when you came to visit last year, weren't you?"

As he hoped, Rachel's expression changed quickly from annoyed to guilty. "Um, yeah, we were married last April. And um, well, Jacob wanted to meet you."

Jonathan Young was thankful when they were interrupted by someone banging on the front door. It would be awhile before he got the hang of talking with, rather than at, his daughter.

He answered the door to find Felix Lee with an armload of file boxes.

"Hey Mr. Young," Felix said, thrusting the boxes at him. "Would you mind taking these? I've got more in the car."

Rachel came up behind her father. "What's going on Felix, where're Jacob and Terrance?"

A big grin split Felix's face. "Why hi there little momma. How ya doing?"

Rachel scowled. "Felix, I'm not armed, but I swear to God, if you call me that one more time, I will find a weapon and I will shoot you."

Felix chuckled and hugged her. "Ok, ma'am. The Doc and Terrance will be here soon. The Doc's still busy in the lab, he wanted me to come ahead and get things set up." He spied the white board set up in the living room. "Great, it's here already. Maybe the two of you could help me get things organized?"

After quickly explaining to Rachel what he needed done Felix joined Young in bringing boxes in from his sedan. The three of them spent the remainder of the afternoon sorting the files and making lists of the forty five children who had become infected with the retrovirus. Felix painstakingly made entries on the whiteboard indicating the progression of the infection from child to child while Rachel and her father cross-checked the interview statements given by the parents to determine the connections between the children. They took a quick dinner break and were still working on the charts when Jacob and Terrance finally arrived.

"Are you ok?" Jacob sat beside Rachel, reaching out, pushing her hair back behind her ears, cupping her cheek. His eyes flitted to where her father was sitting, "everything here ok?"

Rachel smiled, "I'm, everything is fine." She leaned in to give Jacob a hug. She whispered, "We've sort of called a truce."

Jacob's lips twitched, but before he could comment, Felix claimed his attention.

"We've made good progress with these files," Felix said. He gestured toward Rachel and her father. "Thanks to my assistants here."

He quickly brought Jacob up to speed on the work they had been doing.

"Good work Felix," Jacob said approvingly. He and Terrance dove into the files, finding more links between the sick children. Soon Rachel began to yawn.

"You should go to bed," Jacob told her. "You've done more than enough to help us, you need your rest." He bit his lip, lowered his voice, "do you want to stay here? Or should we..."

"I'm fine here," Rachel whispered. She stood up, "I think I'll head off to bed now." She looked pointedly at her father, "we'll talk more tomorrow."

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Jonathan Young hovered uncertainly in the doorway, a tray with a coffee pot and mugs in his hands. He didn't want to intrude but at the same time he was intrigued by his, well, son-in-law's work. He was slowly beginning to realize his daughter's attraction to this detail, for this work, went beyond her feelings for the man at the center of it. He himself had become intrigued by the mystery this virus presented. For the last half-hour, though, there hadn't been any work going on at all that he could see. The three men slumped in front of the white board staring at it. He couldn't understand what the problem was. They had painstakingly listed all forty-five kids in the order they had become sick; the white board looked like some kind of family tree with lines and arrows connecting the names. He cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"Would you like some coffee?"

Jacob was roused from his musing. His lips twitched, he recognized Young was offering an olive branch along with the coffee. "Yes, that might help. We've come to a standstill here."

Putting down the tray, Young squinted at the board, "what's wrong? You seemed to have the course of the disease pretty much mapped out."

Helping himself to the coffee, Jacob shook his head in dissatisfaction. "We've hit a roadblock in tracing our patient zero. We've gotten as far as the three boys on the bottom row there, but we can't find any commonalities between them." He sighed. "We'll have to re-interview the parents tomorrow, I was hoping to avoid that."

Young's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Commonalities? What do you mean?"

Jacob looked at his father-in-law thoughtfully. He was impressed that the man seemed to be trying to reach out to him, to make amends for his earlier truculence. He tilted his head, "what do you know about the Black Death?"

"The what?" Young looked at the two FBI agents in bewilderment, 'what the hell is he talking about?' He was surprised to see the two smile and nod at him encouragingly. "Uh, the Black Death. The plague. Wiped out almost all of the population of Europe."

"Good." Jacob nodded approvingly. "Yes, it was one of the worst pandemics known to man, it wiped out over 30% of the world's population, an estimated 200 million people died. But even so, by studying accounts from that time, we've managed to construct a pathway. For instance, we know that the plague entered Europe at the Crimean city of Caffa. Mongol warriors laying siege to the city catapulted infected corpses into it. Genoese traders, fleeing the invaders then took the disease to Sicily and it spread north through Italy into Europe." He scowled at the whiteboard, "we've even, in the last year, been able to identity the DNA of the strains of the plague and refine the path of the different strains of the virus. If we can do all that, why can't we, working right now, right here, find our patient zero? Where in the hell this retrovirus originated?"

"Why does there have to be a patient zero? When those traders got to Sicily, I'm damn sure lots of people all got sick at once. Maybe these three kids picked this bug up independently of each other? Maybe they're all patient zero?"

"Yes," Jacob explained patiently, "in Sicily lots of people did fall ill, but it was still traced back to the one ship..." He trailed off an abstracted look on his face.

Young started to speak, but he felt a hand on his arm.

"He's on Planet Hood," Terrance said. "Give him a minute."

"You're right," Jacob said, "why can't there be three patient zeros. Remember I said that we've identified the DNA of the plague? Well, it turns out there were two distinct genetic branches of the plague, which came through Europe in two waves." He turned to Terrance and Felix. "We need to do a little more work on the board."

Jacob scooped up several packs of different colored post-it notes. He gave the blue ones to Felix, the yellow ones to Terrance, and kept the green ones for himself. The three men then went back to work on the white board, re-arranging it so that the earliest victims were on top. The three boys at the top of the chain were given separate color post-it notes. Then, every subsequent victim was given a post-it note with color associated with the child who most likely had infected him or her. Jacob stood back with an exclamation of satisfaction when they finished.

For his part Young couldn't see what got Hood so excited. The board still looked the same to him, only upside down and more colorful. But the colors weren't evenly distributed. There were only a few green notes, lots of yellow ones, but for the most part, they were blue. "I don't get it?"

"You were absolutely right, there are three patient zeros. Just like the Black Death, we seem to be dealing with three different strains." He walked over to the board, "see, relatively few children can be tracked back to Curtis. More can be traced to Colin, but the longest chin of victims begins with Tyler." He looked at the three men soberly, "this can't be a coincidence; we need to get back to the hospital, now. I need to do a DNA culture to confirm that we're dealing with three different strains."

Terrance starred at the board, a frown on his face. "Sir? Before we do, I think we should wake up SAC Young and let her know about this."

"Wake up Rachel? Don't be ridiculous. She needs her sleep. I'll let her know ..."

"I didn't say we should wake up Mrs. Hood," Terrance interrupted. "I said we should wake up SAC Young." He motioned to the board. "You keep telling us you don't believe in coincidences. That once is a coincidence, twice is happenstance, and three times is enemy action. Well, we have what looks like enemy action here and that's in SAC Young's wheelhouse."

Young broke in "SAC Young? What are you talking about? I thought Rachel got bounced from the Bureau? She certainly led me to ..."

Jacob raised an eyebrow, "As I recall, you're the one who jumped to that conclusion. I don't think you gave her a chance to tell all of her news." He reached for his cell phone, "Look, why don't I just call Frank? He can notify..."

"No!" Terrance shook his head frantically. "You can't do that. If the EAD thinks SAC Young bypassed him to report to the Director it could make things awkward for her"

"But I've, Rachel and I, always called Frank." He glared at them, "that was one of my deals with him when I started working for the FBI, that I wouldn't have to get bogged down in a lot of bullshit bureaucracy."

"That was then, sir," Terrance said. "Now, well, as your wife, SAC Young, is in a delicate position. People know you have the Director's ear, that both of you are, well, friends of his. You can't do things that make it look like she's going behind her boss's back. I mean, it would be one thing, you calling the Director, if she wasn't here, but she is here and we need to follow the line of command."

"He's right Doc," Felix put in. "I know you've been able to ignore it, but the FBI loves its procedures. If the EAD thinks SAC Young is taking advantage of her relationship with the Director to cut him out of the loop, he could make things hard for her."

"What exactly is Rachel's job?" her father broke in.

"She's the Special Agent in Charge of the Counterterrorism Division." Jacob said.

"Which is why," Terrance said, "if there's any chance this may be terrorist related she needs to call the EAD for National Security."

Jacob gave a huff of exasperation, "fine, I'll go get her."

Jonathan Young couldn't understand why his daughter hadn't told him about her promotion. Unless...

"This job," he asked Felix and Terrance, "did she only get it due to… ahhh, Hood's relationship with the Director?"

Felix gaped, he couldn't believe Rachel's father could ask such a question. He would have thought a former field agent would be pleased as punch to learn his daughter had ascended to such a position. Terrance's mouth twisted in distaste, considering the garbage the old man had been spewing before he wasn't surprised. He hoped, when he acted fairly civil to Dr. Hood this evening that maybe SAC Young and he had more or less buried the hatchet.

"You may not be aware of it," he said through clenched teeth, "but when she was partnered with Dr. Hood, SAC Young and he had a clearance rate of 100%. A lot of that work, furthermore, dealt with matters of national security. I think that record, along with her decorations and commendations account for her promotion."

"But she was just his handler," Young protested. "I mean, how much of ..."

Felix chuckled, "Mr. Young, no one on the Doc's team is just anything. He expects all of us to contribute, doesn't matter what your official role is." He grinned broadly, "heck, even you had a hand in figuring what's going on here, and you can bet your bottom dollar the Doc will make sure you get the credit due you when the report gets written up."

"Me?" Young was incredulous. "What did I do?"

"You asked the right question, got him thinking on the right lines." Felix shrugged, "it might not seem like much to you but it provided a real breakthrough on this case."

Rachel entered the room yawning as she tied the sash on a ruffled and lace trimmed silk robe. Felix's eyes widened and he grinned. Before he could comment on her attire, he caught a stern look from Terrance. He quickly decided a comment on SAC Young's choice of nightwear might not be appreciated.

"So, what the hell is going on here?" Rachel asked crossly. "If you think I'm gonna wake up EAD Hazelton for some wild theory you're out of your collective minds."

"Exactly," said Jacob soothingly, "that's what I told them. It's not even a theory, it's merely a hypothesis. Why don't you go back to bed?"

Rachel glared at the group of men in front of her. "I've got a better idea. Why doesn't someone tell me what the hell is going on here?"

Sensing defeat, Jacob capitulated. He explained how he, Terrance, and Felix traced the progression of the retrovirus in Tampa. They had come to a standstill in identifying patient zero when a chance remark of her father's made him look at the relationships between the children in a different light. Rachel cocked an eyebrow at her father at this news, he shrugged his shoulders. The way the disease progressed with little or no contact between the various children, convinced Jacob they were dealing with three different strains of the virus. That there were indeed, three different patient zeros. But he couldn't be certain until DNA panels were run on the various strains.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked at the now colorful white board. "Tell me about the blue post-its."

"Um well, they would indicate the strain originating with, um, Tyler infected more children." Jacob said.

Rachel gave a huff of irritation. "Yeah, I kinda of figured that out for myself." She looked at him with narrowed eyes, "What's the significance of the check marks? Why are they only on the blue ones at the bottom?"

"That means the child died from the disease," Jacob said reluctantly. "This strain seems to be more deadly, getting worse the more children that it infects. Not only here, but overall. Morris told me that there weren't any deaths associated with the other retrovirus outbreaks.

Rachel looked at the board with wide eyes, the significance of what Jacob implied hit her immediately. It appeared as if someone was going around the country testing a biological weapon, infecting children to see which strain would prove the deadliest. She went back to the bedroom to make the call to EAD Hazelton. When Rachel emerged from the bedroom, her face was grim and she immediately began issuing orders.

"I've told the EAD I don't need any agents from my division…yet. For now, I'm co-opting the Special Science Advisor's team. Here's how I want to proceed. While Jacob is running the DNA panels, Terrance, I want you to run a background check on Dr. Morris." She held up a hand to stop Jacob's protest. "He's the only commonality we have between the outbreak here and the other ones across the country. We need to eliminate him as a suspect." She turned to Felix with a smile. "I need you, Felix, to do what you do best. Strike up conversations with the other people from the CDC, see if any of them have been with him from the beginning, if they would be viable suspects."

Felix nodded, "yes ma'am. Are you going to come with us to the hospital?"

Rachel shook her head, "Not yet, if I show up it might tip off whoever's behind this. I'll stay in the background until we have more intel."

"Makes sense," Felix agreed. "What are you going to do Agent Young?"

"Me?" Rachel smiled. "I'm gonna go back to bed."